NOTES AND EXTRACTS FROM THE SEMITIC MANUSCRIPTS THE …

NOTES AND EXTRACTS FROM THE SEMITIC MANUSCRIPTS IN THE JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY.

BY EDWARD ROBERTSON, D.Lrrr., D.D. PROFESSOR OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES IN T H E

UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER.

IV.

N the collection of Samaritan MSS. in the Library there is I a codex (Ryl. Sam. Cod. XIV) with the title

" This is a miscellany1 of poems for use on pilgrimages, the eves of Sundays: and occasions of special happiness and festivity, and after the reading of the ' Birth of our Master Moses, son of Amram,' on whom be peace, with authors as indicated. May Cod most high have mercy upon them. Amen."

The pilgrimages referred to were visits paid by companies of Samaritans to the tombs of the patriarchs in the neighbowhood of Shechem. These included the tomb of Joseph which lay some three miles to the east of Shechem in the valley between Ebal and Cerizim, and the tombs of Eleazar and Ithamar,

Lit. ' quires '. a The ' eves of Sundays ' would be the evenings following directly on the

completion of the Sabbaths. According to Sir Arthur Cowley, however. ajd\ JU is the plural of ;1'Ill I??'? and represented the first nights after - - special festivals which they were regarded as completing.

Presumably the book on the Birth of Moses, written by Ismi'il b. Rurnaih, a copy of which (Ryl. Sam. Cod. X) is in the library.

See Joshua xxiv. 33. 425

426 THE JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY sons of Aaron, and Phinehas, son of Eleazar, at the village of 'Awarta (or 'Arnarta) some three and a half miles south of Joseph's tomb. The time usually chosen for such pilgrimages was immediately after the celebration of the Passover on Mount Cerizim. The pilgrimage songs are naturally appropriate to the occasion and consist of eulogies of the saint in cjuestion. Amongst the poems for special occasions of happiness and festivity are several drinking songs where the wine cup and the carouse are lauded. The codex comprises some eighty poems. The nucleus of the collection is the group of twenty-four poems transcribed by 'Abdullah b. Mur j~n in the year 1723. There- after considerable additions were made to the number by 'Arnrarn b. Sal~mah, SZlib b. Ibrihim and others, towards the middle of last century. The poems are in three languages-Hebrew, Samaritan, and Arabic. There are several which have Hebrew stanzas alternating with Arabic, or Samaritan with Arabic. In such cases the Arabic stanza is generally a translation of the preceding Hebrew or Samaritan stanza, but sometimes it carries on the theme of the poem. As a general rule the alternate Arabic stanza is of the same metrical pattern as the Hebrew or Samaritan with which it is associated. The great majority of the poems are in Arabic only.

The Arabic language, because its roots are both consonantal and triliteral and the development of its verbal forms so Agidly formal, possesses a wealth of words whose vowel schemes are the same. It is thus admirably suited to rhyme. The Samaritan poet had the added advantage that in addition to classical Arabic forms he could use in the service of his rhyme a wide range of vernacular variants. The strophic form is much the most common in the poems in our codex. Arabic poetry in Spain from the tenth to the eleventh centuries had come in contact with the popular songs of Spain and Provence leading to the introduction of new and elaborate strophic forms. With the transference of these to the East fresh stimulus was given to elaborating strophic schemes in popular poetry. The variety of metric patterns displayed in the strophic poems in this collection is remarkable. The most common is a stanza of four hemistichs. the first three of which rhyme together, whilst the fourth rhymes

NOTES ON THE SEMITIC MANUSCRIPTS 427

with the fourth of every other stanza throughout the poem. In its form it is reminiscent of the first four lines of the Burns stanza. A good example in English is Christina Rossetti's

0 where are you going with your love locks flowing On the west wind blowing along this valley track?'

As, however, the Arabic would generally prefer each hemistich to be an independent statement it would appear in Arabic form as

0 where are you going? Your love locks are flowing. Them the west wind is blowing. You tread this valley

track.

Two features which are normally found in the poems in our codex should be mentioned. The first stanza has all four (or more) hemistichs in the same rhyme as the last hemistich of each stanza, which may be described as the common rhyme of the whole poem.2 The other feature is that the author of the poem contrives to work his own name into one of the stanzas, usually the second last. This weaving of the name into the fabric of the poem ensured that authorship would not be challenged nor forgotten.

The names of the authors of a large number of the poems in our codex are given in the rubrics but in the case of a number of them it is admitted that the author is unknown. Of particular interest is the fact that three of the poems are ascribed to a poetess, Zainab as-$afawiyah, i.e. of the $afi family. Poetesses, although not unknown, are rarae aoes in Arabic literature. Strong religious emotion would appear to be their main inspiration, as witness the Sufite poetess, R~bi'ah al-'Adawiyah of Basra (died, IXth cent.). Zainab is no exception. The first two of her poems here preserved are hymns of supplication. The third is in praise of Moses. The Samaritans, it ought to be recalled, recognized only the Law (the first five books of the Old Testament) as Scripture, and Moses, the giver of the Law, was their great Prophet and Mediator. Of Zainab herself we know nothing. Two of her poems are included in the nucleus of the

Amor Mundi : Poems, ed. of 1899, p. 192. a This is a development of the classical qajidah form where the first two

hemistichs always rhymed.

428 THE JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY

collection, the transcription of which was made in the year 1723. Hence she must have lived prior to that date some considerable time prior, to allow an adequate space of time for her poems to receive sufficient recognition to be included in the collection. The fact that the third poem, in its present fragmentary form, was added as late as the year 1834 shows that her poems must have had a certain vogue in Samaritan circles. I give here the three poems of Zainab with a rendering in English verse. In so doing I have aimed at keeping as close as possible to the Arabic. Since, however, in our Arabic text there are no vowels and no punctuation marks, and free use is also made of the vernacular, it is not always possible to determine what is the exact meaning of a passage or phrase, so that alternative renderings are possible in places? These the Arabic scholar can decide for himself by a comparison between text and translation.

Of the metric schemes of the poems I have attempted to give a suggestion in the translation but nothing more. Arabic prosodists measure their metres quantitatively, whilst English prosodists who have attempted to measure English verse by quantity have met with small success. Thus Zainab's first poem measured quantitatively is spondaic, yet if analysed as spoken it becomes, on the stress measurement of English verse, trochaic. Transliterating the first two lines of the first poem given below and supplying the vowels and stresses, we get

Ya' ulahdhi ma' 14 tdni Min i h s i n 4 la' tanskni

which, as we see, is spondaic in quantity, but trochaic in stress measurement. The English rendering I have supplied is, how-

l The phrase ' the mercy of Cod be upon her ' in the rubrics to her poems indicates that she was at that time dead.

" As it has been put, an Arabic text contains only seventy-five per cent. of the meaning, and the remaining twenty-five per cent. has to be supplied by the reader. It is possible, in consequence, to know the meaning of every word in a sentence and to understand its syntactical construction, and yet to hesitate between two wholly different interpretations. Nor is it merely the European scholar who is handicapped in this way; even the native scholar will fall fre- quently into error unless he has access to the oral tradition which supplements the written text."-H. A. R Cibb, Arabic Literature, 1926, p. 13.


ever, iambic, Zainab's poems fall into the category of verse rather than poetry. Even allowing for the fact that some of her lines have been distorted and mutilated in oral transmission there is nothing outstandingly great in them. They are full of religious phrasings and there is little evidence of deep poetic insight or ex- pression. The verses are not lacking in fervour and move with a good cadence. The metric scheme is generally well adhered to although there are occasional lapses. Although Zainab's poems do not touch great heights, they are not inferior to other poems of the same character in the collection. She holds her own well with the Samaritan religious poet.

For convenience of reference I have added numbers to the verses.

Ryl. Sam. Cod. XIV, pp. 17-18. This poem and the one which follows it were transcribed by 'Abdullah b. Murjiin in A.H. 1 139 (A.D. 1 723). The poem comprises 13 stanzas, each of 4 hemistichs, the first 3 of which rhyme together whilst the fourth rhymes throughout in J\- . The first 3 hemistichs have 8, the fourth 9 (8), syllables. The first hemistich of each stanza has, or was designed to have, internal rhyme? The fact that it is lacking in some stanzas would seem to indicate that there we do not have the original form of the line.

I Known to English prosodists also as ' bisecting ' or ' Leonine ' rhyme.

430 THE JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY 3.

& o u , Ll, A i L d L ~ l

>I,& Y, ,.L 0A.L - ! jl-3. 0- ',>I,


1 1 .

cJU' T-jr 4 i JS I . i f . ) + + , 4 ~ $ 1 c; 2 3;;J , q 2 JJ

Jk Jn jx dill, +

TRANSLATION. Composed by Zainab as-Safawiyah ; the mercy of Cod most

high be upon her. Amen.

0 Cod alone, beside whom none ! Of thy great good thou wilt not me disown, Thy righteousness sufficient have I known, Forgiveness grant unto thine erring one.

Who yet supplies though no one cries, Whose goodness liveth on nor ever dies, One he degrades, and one permits to rise, And as he wills he scales betwixt the twain.

3. He who is King o'er everything, Who wealth to man or beggary can bring, T o show his slave the pathway of the King. T o him nor wrong nor enmity pertain.


0 man replete, rich to surfeit In error much and fashions of deceit ! Ask mercy of thy Cod with heart complete, His pardon full will thee enrich again.

0 Goodness sure, here to endure ! In thy great good help us to live secure, Can feeble man to thy perfection pure 0 noble, bountiful and kind, attain?

Ruler of right, haste not in might ; Justice restrain to slow on us alight, Our sins forgive, most Perfect in our sight ! Thy mercy grant, 0 thou who canst constrain.

0 Cod most high ! thy love supply ; My sins forgive, me punishment deny, Remove from me temptations lurking nigh, The rightful fate decreed for me restrain.

Who canst reveal ! my weakness heal, Assist me with thy grace, my sins conceal. Forgive my faults, and soon, is my appeal, Before the shroud enwraps and all is vain.

9. What he doth know, we cannot know, His good he freely gives, nor $rief doth show; He knows the lost, the saved-and it is so, Before the wombs the new-formed lives sustain.


Eternal, he the birth to be Determined in the womb by his decree, Or great or small--so must it surely be, Or good or bad, or what is merely vain.

He knoweth now the whence, the how, The what-our Cod to whom we bow. One Cod alone none other we avow, Him will we serve and faith in him maintain.

12. T'is Zainab, she of low degree, Composed this hymn to Cod in urgent plea That her Creation's Lord from sin may free, His mercy send with pardon in its train.

Now one and all let blessings fall On him who to Cod's very face did call. May Moses you from torments dread recall, And joys for you in Paradise obtain.

Finished [the copying of] this with the help of Cod most high.

I I. Ryl. Sam. Cod. XIV, pp. 42-45. A poem of 24 stanzas. It

has the same metric scheme as the preceding. The Arabic is generally octosyllabic in the first 3 hemistichs with variations in

L 9 L r L L

the fourth. The Arabic metre with its repetition of the &L M

foot (X - -) would seem to represent a shortened (dimeter) form of the rajaz, a metre which is basically iambic. Such blemishes as the repetition of expressions or ideas in whole or in part as in stanzas 1 and 3 suggest that we may not have the poem throughout in its original form. The translation given here does not follow the Arabic metric scheme.


7. G Y I >+,!I fy- &S L

f$I 9, 6 $A G,,J ?&I &J,

1 Abraham was often called JAl. ' the friend ' of Cod, so called also in

Isaiah xli. 8.


8.

& 4 ~ - I +-I &, ,+ ?. I F 41 4 & $r.*,

11.

@ kL 4 d-3 Jj l lil LIu i L 1 ,dl &YI *L bJ1 Y,J f= -

436 THE JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY 16.

4-1 A\; j. A, 4 3 4 1 p LjL A, 4 ,,1,ruqJ-1 3+4+saB


24.

c'4 &J' & f XJl i LYJ~ i *I &,j fLYl dj Jyj l -

TRANSLATION. A hymn to the measure of &J , by Zainab q-$faw~yah,-

the mercy of Cod, most high, be upon her. Amen, Amen.

0 ever gracious Cod and Lord, Give heed to him who is abhorred, Who through the weary hours of night Seeks favour in his Master's sight.

All night I lie, all night I lie, And shepherd stars with tiny eye : And in my baseness I desire Salvation from Cehenna's fire.

0 Lord our Cod, who art so great, Behold thy slave in low estate, Who through the weary hours of night Seeks favour in his Master's sight.

4. Thy servant I, in sore dismay And trembling for the Judgment Day, Entreat from him who succours all Repentance, favour, peace withal.

THE JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY

5. 0 woeful day when forth we fare ! Can such a day with aught compare? T o Abrarn may our Cod pay heed, And Mmes for us intercede.

Remember then the day we die, A day whose greatness none decry, Seek pardon for our sii and shame, And refuge from Gehema's flame.

And pnder well the day we stand Before our Master, band on band ; May Cod the Ruler pity show And mercy by his grace bestow !

My heart and sod, an eager twain, Combine to make me suffer pain, And down on me f ic t ions call : Forgive, 0 Lord, who lmoweth all.

9.

My hcaR and d together bc Con$ied in sin, 0 woe is me! Good to restore is my desire, And safety from &henna's fire.

10.

My hurt and soul in careless way In sinfulness have gone astray, And if to saints m pay no heed Affliction sore will be our meed.


1 I. Thy servant in whom sins abound In me no good deed can be found, Though hope no expectation hold Thy pardon grant, 0 Cod of Old.

12. 0 for my sins upon me shame ! 0 for my crimes to suffer blame ! Repent we that our words are vain Where folly and injustice reign.

Consider well the appointed day When world and creatures pass away, When truth's dread secrets must be braved, 0 happy he whose soul is saved !

0 happy he whose deeds are wise ! Whose tongue is freed from sin and lies, For he in Paradise will dwell Since Cod the thoughts of all can tell.

15. Woe to the man to ill disposed With all his rebel acts disclosed ! His grave shall be Cehenna's fire His punishment its torments dire.

0 woe to him who pacts doth break, Or way of fathers doth forsake ! For him Gehenna is decreed 0 understanding one, pay heed.

THE JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY

17. 0 woe to him who father flouts ! 0 woe to him who brother scouts ! His deeds against him shall record, When bare he stands before his Lord.

0 hide me at the reckoning dread, The day whereon the Book is read ! The veil no longer us conceals And Cod, all-knowing Lord, reveals.

As is the deed, so the reply, Lord guide me to the truth, be nigh ! Since punishment thou dost control Have mercy, Lord, upon my soul !

20. 0 Master, ~ a r d o n sinful deed : T o prayer and bitter cry give heed ! Receive the prayer I humbly send : In grace, 0 Cod all-wise, commend.

0 ever gracious Lord, we crave Thou wilt behold thy wretched slave ! For Nobles, Fathers, and the Pure l For Abrarn and the Cov'nant sure.

For Joshua's sake, the son of Nun, Father of wars and arts each one :

' An epithet often applied to Noah. ' Joshua, son of Nun was renowned for his wisdom of which much is made in

Rabbinic literature. In Deut. xxxiv. 9 it is recorded that at Moses' death Joshua was filled with the ' spirit of wisdom '.


For Caleb's sake, who mercy showed, The Seventy, too, and him who talked with Cod.

23. 0 to my sins and faults be blind Because of Adam first of all mankind ! Zainab my name is, you are now aware, Be reconciled, 0 Wise beyond compare !

Let prayer and peace again be vowed On him whose veil was gathering cloud, On Moses, prophet, glory of men all, Whose intercession frees the wretched thrall.

hi shed [the copying of] this with the help of Cod most high and his grace.

Ryl. Sam. Cod. XIV, p. 116. Transcribed by Ibrihim b. Silib b. Murjiin b. Muslim b. Murjin. The copyist was thus a great-grandson of the famous Samaritan scholar Muslim b. Murjiin. The copyist of the earliest part of the codex ('Abdullah) was a brother of Muslim. Both Muslim and 'Abdullah were fine penmen, but the same cannot be said of the copyist of this poem. The art of penmanship does not seem to have descended to the later members of the family, for the writing here is miserable. The pen has not been good and the text is smudged in places. The poem consists of 6 stanzas basically on the same metric pattern as the other two but with the introduction and ending to each stanza constant. The syllables vary in the hemistichs from 10 to 12, assuming that it was read as classical Arabic. Analysed on the basis of stress it presents a mixture of trochaic and iambic. The poem as here given is obviously only fragmentary.

442 THE JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY TEXT.

el j - 1 & 41 UJ GyJI tj-j J i j. -- -. 41 j * ~ P * I x ' + 4 & j dl & - &- -

' ' Then sang *--the rubric to the ' Song of Moses,' Ex. xv. 1 ff. It was used by the Samaritans as its title.


A hymn by Zainab a@-Sufiyah,' the mercy of Cod be upon her. Amen.

What follows is in the metre &$ on the composition of 7PP * 1K in praise of the Prophet.

-

T'is Moses, son of Amram : he gave to ease our plight, At his abiding in our midst our hearts fill with delight ; I visit him, 0 Lord my Cod, when darkly falls the night. -T'is he will intercede for me upon the Judgment Day.

2. T'is Moses, Son of Amram : Cod spake with him in grace, And gave to him the holy Law conversing face to face ; I'd hold him, Lord, nor ever set twixt him and me a space. -T'is he will intercede for me upon the Judgment Day.

3. T'is Moses, son of Amram : him the semed ranks would greet, The while his sister Miriam the tambourines did beat, And sang so very tenderly Az Yashir: the complete. -T'is he will intercede for me upon the Judgment Day.

T'is Moses, son of Amram : a prophet he of right, The fire he tramples 'neath his feet like dewdrops of the

night, Whenever I remember him my sorrows take their flight. -T'is he will intercede for me upon the Judgment Day.

Literally ' Zainab the Sfifite *-It may be a deliberate play on $afawiyah, or may be merely an error. ' In the Massoretic text we have Az y d i r (Y'ftn tK). It would appear,

then, that the Samaritans sounded the second syllable of y d i r short.


T'is Moses, son of Amram : the prophet he of man, For him from out the flinty rock the waters bubbling ran; 0 pure is he and holds my love as other never can, -T'is he will intercede for me upon the Judgment Day.

T'is Moses, son of Amram : a lord of worlds the twain, Who gave the Law on tables two that we might it maintain ; What our two lives demand of us the Ten Words clear contain. -T'is he will intercede for me upon the Judgment Day.

Finished happily [the copying] on 7th of Rajab, 1250 [Nov. A.D. 18341.

Documents

NOTES AND EXTRACTS FROM THE SEMITIC MANUSCRIPTS THE …